Pioneer AR Head Up Display pictures and hands-on

The cars set up by Pioneer to show off its AR Head Up Display over in Tokyo at CEATEC may have been a bit basic, but there was nothing straightforward about the augmented reality navigation systems onboard.

The Pioneer AR HUD, Pocket-lint was told by a company rep at the expo, is designed to sit where your sun visor does now (we're not sure what you're meant to do on a sunny day) and is basically a clear visor that looks out towards your windscreen and your bumper.

Behind the visor is a projector that is capable of beaming a 19-inch, high-contrast image from 5 feet away; meaning you could, in theory, watch a movie on your cars chassis.

Much more useful though, and what the Japanese company was demoing at CEATEC, is an AR powered navigation system that hooks up with your smartphone.

It displays the usual satnav guffery, such as street names and driving directions, but with the information overlaid on the real world. You can also use it to call your contacts or view your photos (not advisable whilst driving).

Obviously, safety is an issue, but with the images projected just above your natural eye-line there is the argument that your viewing angle would be somewhat safer than the one currently in place for your satnav system.

The Pioneer bod in charge told us that the system is expected to be available in Japan by the end of the year. It uses Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone and there are plans to integrate the system with Android.